“My feet are killing me, can we stop for a minute?”
You grumbled to yourself as you helped Jessica to a nearby log so that you could both catch a breather. You had been walking for maybe half-an-hour, but with bare feet it had been slow going.
You slumped down beside Jessica as you both breathed-in long, uncomfortable breaths. Though you wanted to be a strong and reassuring presence for your girlfriend, your whole body felt like it was on fire from just the strain of a gentle walk. You guessed that this fatigue was partly due to the shift from horse to human. You remembered it had taken you a few days to get used to Princess’ body, so perhaps it would take just as long after changing back?
You continued to think about this as you looked around. However, you quickly forgot about feeling tired when you caught sight of a building concealed amongst the trees to your right. You beckoned for Jessica to stay low as you pointed the building out to her.
“Shit let’s get out of here,” Jessica whispered as she tugged on your arm, “we can skirt round it if we head back this way…”
“And head back towards the Stables?” you interrupted abruptly. “No, we need to come up with a plan that goes beyond running. All of the exits will be guarded and there will most likely be people patrolling the perimeter fences. We need to figure out some other way out, maybe stowing away on a truck or trying to blend in with the crowd, but we can’t keep on wandering around aimlessly until we get caught. I say we see what’s going on over there and try to come up with something. What do you say?”
Jessica paused upon hearing this bold suggestion. It was obvious that she was conflicted as she was clearly scared about what might happen to the two of you. Instead of really answering she just moved in for a comforting hug as she started quietly sobbing from the stress and emotion of the whole situation.
As you sat cradling Jessica you couldn’t help feeling emotional yourself, as you started to doubt that you would ever make it out of here. Nevertheless, you tried to maintain your aura of confidence in order to help Jessica recover.
Thankfully this tactic eventually seemed to work as, with a simple “I trust you,” Jessica agreed to follow through with your plan.
With this decided, you told Jessica to hang back a bit as you both crept towards the mysterious building. As you got closer, you got the sense that this was some sort of administrative building rather than an attraction, since it was essentially an ugly concrete box hidden away where nobody could see it.
As you got to within 100 meters or so, you told Jessica to stay still as you surveyed the area. Thankfully the building didn’t look very active at the moment, with no signs of any lights turned on and with a door which looked locked. Outside were a number of skips which all looked to be full with various bits of rubbish. Also outside was a dirt track road which ran past the building, which presumably connected the main Zoo complex to one of the exits.
After determining that the coast was clear, you beckoned for Jessica to join you as you thought about your possible next steps. You both decided that Jessica would stay watch and, if you didn’t return in half-an-hour or so, she would try to find some other way out of here.
As for you, you decided that you had to act fast before you were discovered. Maybe those hunting you wouldn’t expect such a bold strategy if you got in and out quickly. There had to be something that could help you in this damned place.
With your mind made up, you slowly moved closer to the building, making sure to keep your head down as you tried to move as stealthily as possible. Luckily, there were no fences or guards posted outside, meaning it was easy to get in close to the ominous structure.
Once in position, you waited briefly to check for any signs of activity. Thankfully there was nothing as you slowly started to study the perimeter of the large concrete box.
First, you peered in through one of the murky windows and looked into what appeared to be a filing room. It was hard to make out exactly what was contained inside, but you guessed that it was probably just full of boring Zoo records.
At the next window along from this, you saw what appeared to be a store room; but again it was hard to tell exactly what was inside.
As you looked around some more, you moved towards the skips that you had seen inside. When you looked inside, you started to feel a bit uneasy when you noticed that they weren’t just filled with any old rubbish like you had previously assumed. Sure, one skip was for general waste, but the contents of the others were far more sinister.
One skip was filled with leather items like wallets, handbags and shoes. Another contained discarded clothes, many of which looked like they had been shredded or reduced to rags. Other personal items such as rucksacks, water bottles, pushchairs and umbrellas had also been dumped out here to be disposed of.
Seeing all of this made you feel sick deep in your stomach as you started to realise what this place was for. Despite this though, you were still shocked when you finally saw the board above the building’s entrance...
‘Lost Property’ was the name on the sign. It sounded innocent enough but you knew how sinister this place really was. Those items in the skips once belonged to the Zoo’s visitors. Just seeing the sheer number of confiscated possessions made you shudder, as you tried not to think about just how many of their owners were now trapped as animals for the rest of their lives. Hell, some of your things were probably buried somewhere in here too, given that the Zoo had predicted you would no longer be needing them.
This horrible discovery took a while for you to process as you were once again reminded of your time as Princess. However, you didn’t let this distract you for long as you instead focussed your horror into determined anger. ‘Those motherfuckers kidnapped us and almost trapped us as animals forever,’ you thought to yourself. ‘They’ve already screwed around with enough peoples’ lives. Now I think it’s time for some payback!”
With that, you continued scanning around the outside of the building, now determined to find a way in. As it happened, you soon came across a large shoot, above which was a sign which read ‘laundry.’
“Perfect,” you said out loud, “now let’s show these bastards what we’re made of.”
With that, you eased yourself into the laundry shoot and allowed yourself to slide down. Then, as planned, you landed in a pile of clothes in the basement of the building.
With your plan to infiltrate the complex having succeeded, you promptly got up and started looking around for anything that could help you and Jessica escape this hellish place…